On October 12, the lead universal nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika completed the transition from St. Petersburg to the homeport of Murmansk. The vessel is moored at the berths of the FSUE Atomflot base of the Rosatom State Corporation. The nuclear-powered ship of project 22220 overcame about 4800 nautical miles in 21 days.
“During the transition, we intentionally came out to the geographic point of the North Pole in order to collect the maximum amount of information about the operation of a nuclear icebreaker in ice conditions,” says Konstantin Knyazevsky, deputy general director for fleet construction, head of the FSUE Atomflot representative office in St. Petersburg. The results obtained confirm the design characteristics of the vessel. Operating at 50 percent of its power, the nuclear-powered icebreaker overcame all ice floes met in the polar region. This was achieved thanks to the unique ship's hull shape."
In ice floes of various thicknesses, the trial crew of the lead universal nuclear-powered icebreaker "Arktika" tested the operation of the rudder propeller unit and the ship's propulsion system.
Let us recall that on September 22, the lead universal nuclear-powered icebreaker “Arktika” left the building berth of the JSC “Baltic Plant” in St. Petersburg for the homeport of Murmansk. On October 3, 2020, at 18:00 Moscow time, while checking systems and equipment in ice conditions, the ship reached the North Pole.
The formal ceremony of the delivery of the lead universal nuclear-powered icebreaker to FSUE Atomflot and raising of the Russian Federation flag on board of the ship is scheduled for October 21, 2020.
Main characteristics of the ship
- length - 173.3 meters (160 meters at design waterline)
- width - 34 meters (33 meters at design waterline)
- hull height - 15.2 meters
- power - 60 MW (delivered)
- travel speed - 22 knots (in clean water)
- draft - 10.5 meters / 8.65 meters
- maximum icebreaking capacity - 2.9 meters
- draught - 33 540 tons
- estimated service life - 40 years
- complement - 53 people